Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Tuesday despatched minister of state for civil defence Srikumar Mukherjee with five officials, including the director-general of civil defence and two doctors, to the accident site at Rafiganj.

“It is an appalling incident, involving the deaths of so many people. This proves once again how important railway safety and security is,” Bhattacharjee said at Writers’ Buildings. Earlier, at a Cabinet meeting, a minute’s silence was observed to condole the deaths of the Rajdhani passengers.

According to Bhattacharjee, transport minister Subhas Chakraborty has been asked to coordinate with the railways to help reach information on the victims and the injured to their families. Minister of state for health Pratyush Mukherjee, who is camping at Writers’, has been asked to supervise the medical needs of those reaching Howrah station.

Director-general of police D.C. Vajpai is in constant touch with his counterpart in Bihar. A special control room has been opened at the state police headquarters and a list of the dead and injured will be put up at the Lalbazar police headquarters and Calcutta Information Centre. The following are the phone numbers of the director-general’s control room: 214-5486, 214- 5087, 214-4031. The phone numbers of the director of information department’s control room are: 223-2451, 223-4214 and 223-2929.

Director of Medical Education C.R.Maity said the staff in the emergency wards of city hospitals have been strengthened to cope with the mishap injured.